In less than a week, I experienced the best and worst of being a Syracuse University alum and sports fan. Last Sunday I was at the Carrier Dome for a court-storming victory over UConn in front of a monstrous crowd of 32,944. The Thunder Dome was just as I'd remembered it: loud, large and unlike anything in college basketball. On Thursday I attended the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament, where Syracuse led the entire fucking game till the last minute, falling in heart-breaking fashion to underdog Boston College. I had been a to a few of these MSG encounters before. It was just as I'd remembered it.
I took some photos at Thursday's matinee and tacked them onto the end of the SU-UConn photo album.
What you'll see looks like a normal game, but afternoon affairs at the Big East Tournament are anything but. The crowd is usually subdued at the start because: a) it's 2 p.m. on a weekday, for Christ's sake; b) ticket-holders are split among fans from the 12 participating teams, and some just don't show up when their teams aren't playing; and c) there's a more important tournament starting next week.
By the end, though, the beer has kicked in and even the most impartial fans have picked a rooting interest (almost always the underdog). It may be 4 p.m. on a Thursday in a stadium one-third empty, but the place starts to rock. And it sure beats being in an office.
Notes From Thursday's Experience:
• Does anything test one's patience more than a tense game with a split crowd? The worst thing in the world is having a fan of the opposing team sitting behind you. When you're steamed, they're clapping in your ear. It's quite disorienting. You're thinking, "What's this schmuck clapping for? That was traveling on us." Then you remember he's just a jagoff from Boston and you want to pull out an Aaron Boone baseball card and chuck it in his beer.
• Fans of early-round losers are always extra-pissed, because it ruins the whole damn weekend. Out-of-towners who bought the entire six-session, 11-game ticket plan could see their team streak their way to a Saturday night championship over three or four games. Fun, fun, fun. Or they could lose early, get heckled on the way out by opposing fans from a variety of schools, try desperately to dump their tickets to the vultures preying on desolate fans after every game, then spend twice as much on lunch as they would have back home. On the way down the stairs at MSG, I heard a middle-aged Syracuse fan yell to absolutely no one, "Jesus fucking Christ!" I swear I almost laughed at loud, even though I was pissed, too. But c'mon, man. Get a grip.
• I hope it didn't cost us a seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think a win there guaranteed us a 5. Now we may be looking at a 6. BTW, is there a team out there that doesn't want to be in whatever bracket St. Joe's gets a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in?
• MSG showed a highlight reel of the four Big East teams who've won national championships (1984 Georgetown, 1985 Villanova, 1999 UConn, 2003 Syracuse). The 'Cuse fans rocked when the Orangemen's portion of the clip aired.
I feel bad you had to witness the tragedy. After the first half I couldn't bear to watch anymore. BC looked like complete crap. It's confusing to me that they play so tough considering they lost their team from last year--Sidney and Bell. Looks as though both teams are headed for a 5 seed.
Posted by jeffcaw at March 12, 2004 3:39 PM